Technology designed to recycle hazardous waste is relatively new. Rules and regulations generally administered by the Environmental Protection Agency were initially developed to control storage, transportation and disposal by landfill of hazardous wastes. In situations where hazardous waste was being generated by a company, however, the company was required to minimize such hazardous waste generation and to curtail land filling immediately.
In light of the above described circumstances, recycling entities developed mobile systems to service hazardous waste generators at the site of the generation of the hazardous waste. The hazardous waste handling regulations allowed mobile systems where permanently installed systems could not be used and allowed hazardous waste generators and recycling entities to comply with the law while operating in a manner which was advantageous to both.
All known mobile waste recycling systems operate to encapsulate hazardous wastes rather than incorporating them into a matrix of material which may not be broken down by normal physical or chemical means. When encapsulation is employed, there is always the danger of loss of the integrity of the capsule, i.e., cracking, breakage, etc. which would allow release of the hazardous wastes.
Applicant is aware of the following United States patents which are generally related to the subject matter of mobile waste treatment facilities:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,979 to Schneider, et al. discloses a plant for manufacturing small structural elements out of concrete and includes a production station and a hardening station, both of which are transportable on flat-bed-type trailers to a specific site, unloaded, used, and then retransportable to another site.
U.S Pat. No. 4,072,453 to Oltmanns, et al. discloses a plant for the production of tubular articles such as corrugated drain pipes out of synthetic material which is mounted in a trailer for transport. The raw material is fed into the plant by a flexible conveying screw to fill the hopper of an extruder whereupon a forming and conveying device takes the extrudate to form the tubular product which is then wound upon a storage reel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,916 to Lubavs discloses a mobile block production plant wherein the producing station and curing station are separately mounted on mobile trailer beds with the curing station having at least two curing kilns, each capable of separate function.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 1,454,082 to Schlosser discloses a facility for treatment of waste wherein the waste is separated as to type and treated and dealt with according to its nature and uses to be made thereof. Schlosser relates to a method of utilizing domestic and industrial garbage and other refuse.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,656 to Opacic, et al. discloses a mobile unit for treating liquid waste having a bin for a powdered setting agent with an outlet at its bottom and a porous floor spaced above the bottom. Compressed air is delivered to the space beneath the floor to form a fluidized bed of setting agent above the floor. The setting agent is delivered to the mixing hopper in which it is mixed with liquid waste whereupon the mixture leaves the hopper.
The following U.S. Pat. Nos. are known to applicant and disclose various well known processes for treating waste materials: U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,872 to Conner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,102 to Conner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,320 to Conner, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,705 to Chappell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,243 to Sandesara, U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,185 to Schober, U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,791 to Johnson, Jr., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,568 to Chappell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,880 to Chappell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,514 to Wright, U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,396 to Robinson-Todd, U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,936 to Evans, U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,916 to Donaldson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,479 to Redelman and U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,696 to Donaldson.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the inventive mobile inorganic recycling apparatus includes a sophisticated scrubber device through which a gas is taken to remove all hazardous materials therefrom and render the gas benign. While some of these patents teach some aspects of the inventive scrubber, none of these patents teaches all of the aspects thereof and any combination of these references does not teach all of the aspects of the present invention. These United States patents are the following: U.S. Pat. No. 1,994,776 to Heglar, U.S. Pat. No. 2,150,745 to Mieras, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,325,632 to Berneike, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,334,471 to Herron, U.S. Pat. No. 3,456,709 to Vegeby, U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,487 to Perez, U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,642 to Perez, U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,999 to Carlson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,042 to Hegemann, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,331 to Hegemann, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,609 to Garigioli, U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,563 to Brulhet, U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,139 to Board, U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,324 to Hawryluk and U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,353 to Cameron.
A need has developed for a mobile inorganic recycling process and apparatus which will enable not only the treatment of hazardous wastes but their conversion into materials which may be useful in other applications such as road paving, construction and the like. It is in this context that the present invention was developed.